The Warrior's Pain
by thewatchfulprotector
Summary: 8 years after the death, or presumed murder, or Harvey Dent, Bruce sits in the Manor, contemplating his happiness. Please Review! It would really mean a lot to me!


_A hero. Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight, shining._

Commissioner Jim Gordon's voice echoed through the garden of Wayne Manor, as today marked the 8th anniversary of the death, or presumed murder, of Harvey Dent.

All gathered to celebrate, all except the presumed murderer himself, or better known as his alter ego.

He stood at the ledge of the Manor, listening intently to his friend cover the lie that had been told for close to ten years.

Bruce knew that the people of Gotham would need a person to blame, and to Bruce, the easiest person to blame was himself. There were very few that had supported a masked vigilante, it just seemed logical that the burden, along with all the repercussions, be hung over his head.

When he'd first started this legacy, he did it out of love. Love for what his father had built, and the need to carry on that great name. But it soon turned to vengeance, as did everything else in his life. Vengeance against all the tragedy that had been bestowed upon him. There was nothing here in Gotham for him, nothing but pain and suffering, but something would always draw him back.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred bellowed, catching Bruce off guard.

Bruce turned to Alfred, not echoing a sound.

"Ms. Tate has requested to visit you." He said, knowing the answer that would soon follow.

"I can't see her Alfred, you know that."

Alfred sighed once again, seeing the emotional pain eating away at his surrogate son.

"Perhaps you should ice your leg then, sir?" he asked, trying desperately to bring him back to reality.

Bruce surrendered, placing himself carefully on the bed, pain soon etched on his face, as he allowed Alfred to expose the badly beaten skin of the Dark Knight.

Alfred looked up, suddenly in pain himself, as he continued to inadvertently cause his master so much pain.

Leaving to fetch some ice water, he allowed Bruce more brooding time.

The mask was never to protect himself, it was to protect the ones he cared so deeply for. Alfred, Gordon… Rachel.

Rachel. His life beyond the cave. It didn't matter how hard he tried, he would always have to live with the memory of his true love, his true love that he had traded with for a murderer. The life that he himself was responsible for taking. He forever, would have to live with that aching heartache.

Soon returning with the bucket of stinging ice water that he could feel a mile away, Alfred placed it on the floor, grabbed Bruce's leg that was just starting to get acquainted with the positioning it had been left in, and placed it carefully in the tub.

Feeling the stinging sensation begin to crawl up his leg, Bruce winced back in pain.

"Is it really painful?"

Looking up wide-eyed from his head down position, Bruce was in shock of his butler's sense of superiority.

"You're very welcome to try it Alfred." He shot back, not about to let his underminer get the last word.

"No thank you, sir. I'm very happy watching." He said smiling, trying to revive the lost soul within the crumbled body.

"I miss your smile, sir." Alfred whispered, half of him hoping to be heard, the other dreading his response.

"I know you do Alfred." He said reassuring his faithful guardian that he was indeed, not angry, but rather touched that a man cared as much for him as Alfred did. "I do too."

The truth was, Bruce wasn't angry by choice, rather by fate. It was fate that had brought him where he was in his life. It was fate that he'd been left alone, to fight the world on his own. It was obvious that fate had it out for him just like everyone else. Harvey was right, there was no morality in this cruel world.

"You should smile more, sir." Alfred stated grinning at the young man. "It looks good on you."

Alfred always had a way to make Bruce feel better. He'd been with him the longest, been the closest to him, he'd taken care of him when no one else would.

He was all Bruce had, all he'd ever wanted.

He couldn't ask for anything more.

**Please Review, and tell me what you think!**


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